Innocence Is Not a Defense for Oromo Political
Prisoners in TPLF’s Ethiopia
7 April, 2010 | By Tigabu Yilma
7 and their alleged supporters to death and life imprisonments.
After I saw the news headlines on Gadaa.com and EthioMedia.com,
quite instinctively, I went on to read the names of the people. Barely
halfway through the list, I was shocked at what I was reading. One of
my classmates was among those in the list — Wabe Haji!
Wabe Haji Jarso is an alumni of the Addis Ababa University (AAU) Law
School, class of 1993/4. Wabe is an Oromo. He is from the Arsi region
of State of Oromia in Ethiopia. Before joining AAU Law School, Wabe
served in the Ethiopian Air Force. He was a quiet, apolitical, farsighted
and very considerate member of our class. He was the voice of reason
and magnanimity. For these noble qualities, we all loved, respected and
admired him.
As if I am writing my own obituary, flashback of memory took me
back to the Addis Ababa University Law School. I started recounting
the five years we spent together there. We learned, ate and played
together. We shared, debated and argued on issues, views and beliefs.
We were very close to each other, and to the faculty and staff of the
Law School. We were ONE family, the Law School family. We knew
each other very well. Our small size (fifty students for the entire batch)
and the isolated nature of the Law School at the Sidist Kilo Campus of
the AAU made us be very close.
I tried to recall every one of them by name – my classmates. Our years
of idealism and innocence clouded my memory. At this point, I realized
most of us have left the country. And, most of us are leading successful
lives, alas outside Ethiopia. We are dispersed around the world. Most of
us now live in Europe and the United States.
I also thought of why we left Ethiopia in drove, and few remained
behind. We all made calculated decision to leave or stay in Ethiopia. For
those of us who decided to leave, the human instinct of survival and
staying alive – at least for ourselves – outweighed all the rest. I could
classify those who decided to stay in Ethiopia into two groups. The first
group consisted of my friends, who found out that, in the era of TPLF,
it was their time and season of power. They were right. All of them are
now in positions of authority. They are the judges, prosecutors and
propaganda chiefs of the TPLF regime, the most barbarian and cruel
regime the world has ever seen. Wabe was sentenced to thirteen years
imprisonment by one of them.
Wabe Haji belonged to the second group, those who remained in
Ethiopia due to the love of family and country. Don’t get me wrong. We
all love our country and family. But, we gambled with the risk to save
our lives.
After graduating from the Law School, Wabe started working for the
Ethiopian Insurance Corporation (EIC). He worked for EIC until he
joined the Ethiopian Commercial Bank a couple of years prior to his
detention in November 2008. Both corporations are government owned,
i.e. they are under the control of the TPLF. Despite the odds of working
for a TPLF-controlled company, Wabe was one of the most successful
attorneys both at the Ethiopian Commercial Bank and the Ethiopian
Insurance Corporation. He was content and happy with his life and legal
practice.
A day before I left Ethiopia, I had coffee with Wabe. I told him my
decisions. He didn’t object. I asked him what his plans were. His
response was crystal clear. He said he had old, young, and poor family
members who looked up to him. He said he was the only breadwinner
not only for his family, but also for his extended family members. He
told me the young looked up to him for guidance, and the old needed his
support. He told me even if he wanted to leave to pursue his master’s
degree in Europe or the U.S., he could not. He had to work and support
his family.
Before we parted, I asked him one last question, which I still recall. I
asked him if he had any fear of the TPLF whom everybody knew were
targeting the Oromo people, particularly the intellectuals, students and
businesspeople. He said he had no fear. He saw no reason why he
would be targeted. He said he was not a politician and had no interest to
become one. He reminded me of his apolitical stand during the Derge
regime. But, I pushed him further, and told him most Oromos I knew
were in prison; they were neither politicians nor politically involved. On
that one, he agreed and said, “innocence is not a defense for Oromo
political prisoners in TPLF Ethiopia.”
Now, innocence is not a defense for Wabe Haji. He is behind bars in one
of the world’s most brutal dungeons. As for his poor relatives and
family members, TPLF will get rid of them without being accused of
killing them itself.
Now what remains is whether Oromos and the rest of the Ethiopian
people will defend themselves against the TPLF fascist regime or
continue to be killed in vain.
* Tigabu Yilma can be reached at TigabuYilma@gmail.com
Prisoners in TPLF’s Ethiopia
7 April, 2010 | By Tigabu Yilma
- As it might be the case for
millions of Oromos and other
Ethiopians, it was a shocker
for me to learn that the TPLF
regime of Meles Zenawi had
sentenced leading Oromo
intellectuals (political leaders,
lawyers, engineers,
professors and students) and
businesspeople to death, life
sentence, and long years of
imprisonment. This is the
second time in less than
three months that the TPLF
regime issued such a verdict;
7 and their alleged supporters to death and life imprisonments.
After I saw the news headlines on Gadaa.com and EthioMedia.com,
quite instinctively, I went on to read the names of the people. Barely
halfway through the list, I was shocked at what I was reading. One of
my classmates was among those in the list — Wabe Haji!
Wabe Haji Jarso is an alumni of the Addis Ababa University (AAU) Law
School, class of 1993/4. Wabe is an Oromo. He is from the Arsi region
of State of Oromia in Ethiopia. Before joining AAU Law School, Wabe
served in the Ethiopian Air Force. He was a quiet, apolitical, farsighted
and very considerate member of our class. He was the voice of reason
and magnanimity. For these noble qualities, we all loved, respected and
admired him.
As if I am writing my own obituary, flashback of memory took me
back to the Addis Ababa University Law School. I started recounting
the five years we spent together there. We learned, ate and played
together. We shared, debated and argued on issues, views and beliefs.
We were very close to each other, and to the faculty and staff of the
Law School. We were ONE family, the Law School family. We knew
each other very well. Our small size (fifty students for the entire batch)
and the isolated nature of the Law School at the Sidist Kilo Campus of
the AAU made us be very close.
I tried to recall every one of them by name – my classmates. Our years
of idealism and innocence clouded my memory. At this point, I realized
most of us have left the country. And, most of us are leading successful
lives, alas outside Ethiopia. We are dispersed around the world. Most of
us now live in Europe and the United States.
I also thought of why we left Ethiopia in drove, and few remained
behind. We all made calculated decision to leave or stay in Ethiopia. For
those of us who decided to leave, the human instinct of survival and
staying alive – at least for ourselves – outweighed all the rest. I could
classify those who decided to stay in Ethiopia into two groups. The first
group consisted of my friends, who found out that, in the era of TPLF,
it was their time and season of power. They were right. All of them are
now in positions of authority. They are the judges, prosecutors and
propaganda chiefs of the TPLF regime, the most barbarian and cruel
regime the world has ever seen. Wabe was sentenced to thirteen years
imprisonment by one of them.
Wabe Haji belonged to the second group, those who remained in
Ethiopia due to the love of family and country. Don’t get me wrong. We
all love our country and family. But, we gambled with the risk to save
our lives.
After graduating from the Law School, Wabe started working for the
Ethiopian Insurance Corporation (EIC). He worked for EIC until he
joined the Ethiopian Commercial Bank a couple of years prior to his
detention in November 2008. Both corporations are government owned,
i.e. they are under the control of the TPLF. Despite the odds of working
for a TPLF-controlled company, Wabe was one of the most successful
attorneys both at the Ethiopian Commercial Bank and the Ethiopian
Insurance Corporation. He was content and happy with his life and legal
practice.
A day before I left Ethiopia, I had coffee with Wabe. I told him my
decisions. He didn’t object. I asked him what his plans were. His
response was crystal clear. He said he had old, young, and poor family
members who looked up to him. He said he was the only breadwinner
not only for his family, but also for his extended family members. He
told me the young looked up to him for guidance, and the old needed his
support. He told me even if he wanted to leave to pursue his master’s
degree in Europe or the U.S., he could not. He had to work and support
his family.
Before we parted, I asked him one last question, which I still recall. I
asked him if he had any fear of the TPLF whom everybody knew were
targeting the Oromo people, particularly the intellectuals, students and
businesspeople. He said he had no fear. He saw no reason why he
would be targeted. He said he was not a politician and had no interest to
become one. He reminded me of his apolitical stand during the Derge
regime. But, I pushed him further, and told him most Oromos I knew
were in prison; they were neither politicians nor politically involved. On
that one, he agreed and said, “innocence is not a defense for Oromo
political prisoners in TPLF Ethiopia.”
Now, innocence is not a defense for Wabe Haji. He is behind bars in one
of the world’s most brutal dungeons. As for his poor relatives and
family members, TPLF will get rid of them without being accused of
killing them itself.
Now what remains is whether Oromos and the rest of the Ethiopian
people will defend themselves against the TPLF fascist regime or
continue to be killed in vain.
* Tigabu Yilma can be reached at TigabuYilma@gmail.com
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